She Is Everything
by BlueLLama9
Summary: The weather always does what it wants, and this time, it seems it wants to keep Sasuke and Sakura trapped in the same small room of an inn that has only one bed.


There is something very relaxing about walking home, even, maybe especially, when you are tired. The nice feeling of knowing that after a very long time you get to sit down in your own home doing nothing was on both Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha's minds as they were returning to Konoha after an exhausting mission. Or at least, it was, until it became obvious that advancing anywhere in the snow with what seemed like the apocalypse about to happen hanging over their heads was not the best idea.

They tried ignoring the cold and the snow that was beginning to fall for the second time that day until Sakura suggested they stop at the nearest inn. There was no harm in getting back a little late and a warm meal and bed would be welcomed by the both of them.

Sakura suggested they try the one they had just passed when they thought they would be able to pull through and not stop at all before getting home, so they sprinted back for around ten minutes. The decision to not advance seemed even better now that the snow was falling heavily and the wind was blowing so hard it threatened to rip down the trees around them.

The inn was nothing impressive, quite small and by the looks of it, very full. Sasuke and Sakura both searched their bags for money, preparing to approach the lady at the counter.

"We'd like two rooms, please." said Sakura, already handing over both her and Sasuke's money.

"I'm sorry dear, we only have one room available. This weather is making all travellers anxious to be inside." answered the woman with an apologetic smile.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke and he shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time they shared a room so it wasn't a big deal. Sakura handed the woman money for one room, asked if they could get something to eat, received the key and headed up the wooden stairs to the left of the counter. Their room was tiny, containing one bed, a table with a few candles on it, a dresser and a small door they suspected led to a bathroom. There was also a small, unlit fireplace stocked with only a few logs of wood.

Sakura decided to check out the bathroom while Sasuke looked around the room to see if they had anything else. He found two blankets in the dresser which he took out and set on the bed. They both ran out of things to do so they awkwardly stood, facing each other, in the middle of the room.

"At least it's warmer in here and the light is working." said Sakura, trying to lighten the mood.

"I just hope we won't be stuck here for more than one night." replied Sasuke.

The sleeping situation would be awkward and they were both painfully aware of it. In the last few months they always found a way to stick closer to each other, or an excuse to accidentally touch and have some time alone, but they never shared a bed, or did anything more than hold hands. Not to try and hide their feelings, either, but because for Sasuke, this was all new and taking things slowly was best. As for Sakura, the joy of knowing he was trying to include her in his new, hectic life was enough.

The old lady knocked on their door to bring them some onigiri, apologizing for not having anything else. She seemed overwhelmed, having so many guests at her inn. They could tell this was a rare occurrence. They thanked her and sat down at the table to eat, occasionally exchanging bites of their onigiri. When they were done they sat up, feeling somewhat lost.

They decided to just sit on the bed, occasionally glancing at each other. Sakura smiled to herself, remembering a time when it was only her acting this way around Sasuke, but now her chest would warm up whenever he would absent mindedly touch her hand, sometimes even hold it, or when she noticed how they always ended up extremely close to each other while walking or sitting down.

"I'm sorry you had to get stuck with me as a babysitter, if it weren't for that you'd be at home right now."

Sakura's voice filled the silent room and Sasuke noticed a bit of discomfort in it. It wasn't her fault. The terms of his reinstatement in the village were not unreasonable and while still annoyed that he had to have someone supervise him until he was deemed trustworthy, he didn't mind that it was usually one of his teammates. It could have been much, much worse.

"It's fine. I understand it has to be done. I'm sorry you ended up being a babysitter."

She smiled at that. Sasuke being more open to obeying the village and simply wanting to earn the people's trust was a change she would never get tired of.

"I don't mind at at all." she said almost too quietly to be heard, but Sasuke did not miss it.

"What are we supposed to do about this thing?" he asked, patting the bed.

Sakura's face went red but he was not teasing, he had a point. The bed was a bit too small for two people and by the looks of it they would be falling down from it every five minutes. Sleeping on the floor was not an option for either of them because it was cold, or at least that is what Sakura told herself.

"I guess we'll have to share, but let's push it into that wall over there so we at least have support from one side."

She got up in the middle of explaining her idea and focused a small amount of chakra into her palms. When Sasuke got out of the way she pushed it once and the job was done, the bed was lined up with the dresser and it seemed to be safer for whomever was going to take that side. They then proceeded to take turns into the small bathroom connected to their room to change and get ready for bed.

Sakura stepped out of the bathroom and saw Sasuke sitting at the table reading a book she had in her backpack. She walked up behind him and glanced over his shoulder to read along with him. She read the words "passionate kissing" and she realized he was reading one of the mushiest, most romantic scenes in the book. He looked up at her with a confused expression and she laughed loudly.

"I don't get why you like this kind of stuff." he said, shaking his head and closing the book.

"If I'm not reading this incorrectly, you just went through my things, took out the book and started reading it."

She was still behind him, staring at the back of his head, and she noticed the tips of his ears were incredibly red. She wondered why he was embarrassed all of a sudden, but didn't want to pry. A thing she learned about Sasuke a while after he returned was that he would eventually tell her things if she didn't push him, if he felt comfortable enough.

Sakura stretched and let out a yawn. Their mission didn't allow them to get much rest and looking out the window she noticed it was already dark. She wanted to ask him something, but before she got the chance to open her mouth there was a loud noise and then, out of nowhere, the lights turned off.

"I'm going to take a guess and say that noise was something happening to the generator." said Sakura, leaning over the table to search for a candle.

They were stuck in complete darkness, feeling around the table until Sasuke's hand grabbed Sakura's. He let it linger for a short moment then they resumed their search. When one of the candles was finally lit Sasuke could see the faint redness on Sakura's cheeks. They were discussing whether or not they should go and find out what happened when they heard a knock on the door. It was the lady from earlier apologizing for the fact that the generator, as they suspected, had stopped working, and that it could not be fixed until morning, if the weather calmed down.

Sasuke piled up some of the logs in the fire place and lit them up with a small fire ball. Since there really was nothing else to do, Sakura and Sasuke climbed up in bed, Sasuke taking the side closer to the wall. They awkwardly tried to lay still on one side, both of them facing in the same direction. After what seemed like a long time the cold finally started filling the room, the fire not being enough to keep it away. Sakura bit her lip before speaking.

"Sasuke-kun? Are you awake?"

"Hn."

"I'm... I'm getting really cold."

He turned around to face her, the light from the fireplace allowing her to see him. They looked at each other for a while until Sasuke moved his arm from under himself and stretched it out in Sakura's direction. She was confused for a second until he said:

"Come here, then."

He looked away as she shifted closer to him, placing her head on his arm. He moved a little closer as well and hesitantly wrapped his other arm around her. Both of them were shaking slightly only neither of them were sure it was because of the cold. Sakura warmed up immediately, her increased heart beat helping a lot, and she focused on how good it felt to be so close to Sasuke, to feel the heat radiating off of his body and almost hear his heartbeat. She snuggled even closer, until her face was buried in his neck.

"Do you mind?" she asked, not wanting to get too ahead of herself.

She could feel him shaking his head, his chin pressing against the top of her head. He then tightened both of his arms around her, using one hand to make small circles on her back.

Sasuke was never one to show affection, at least not physically, and he wasn't sure why but he enjoyed it with Sakura. He enjoyed how she smelled, how her heart was beating as fast as his, how he could feel her breath on his skin and how it was palpable how much she wanted to be as close to him as possible.

Sakura was used to being closer to Sasuke, and it was obvious he was making an effort in these last few months to show her that he really did care and that he appreciated her patience and her love and she had thought the small encounters they had before like their hands brushing against each other or some of the looks they shared were intimate but this was on a whole different level.

"I never thought you'd like to cuddle." she said in a playful tone.

He pinched her back and she jumped slightly She laughed at how easy this all was but she couldn't help but wonder if this was a one time thing. Her body tensed at the thought and Sasuke pulled away to look at her, sensing her discomfort.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm just... what are we doing Sasuke-kun? I'm trying to not over analyze everything that's been going on between us, especially this, but... I guess I don't really know where we stand."

He had thought about this several times starting as early as their genin days. What was Sakura to him? She used to be a nuisance, then she was a teammate, then she became one of the people who walked to hell and back to help him and loved him unconditionally. Somewhere along the road of healing himself, he found that he had subconsciously replaced some of his negative feelings with positive ones, including this strange affection for Sakura that was warming him up more than her body heat. It didn't make sense to him, to try and explain what this girl meant to him in terms such as "friend" or "girlfriend". She was the one who lessened his pain when he was lonely, she was the one who waited at the gates of the village when he himself didn't know for sure what to do and she was the one who, after everything, was now laying in his arms, never once mentioning the horrible things he has done. She was everything.

"I'm not good with words. I don't know how to tell you what I feel." he said, although that was a lie, he just didn't know if he could say all that out loud.

She propped herself on her arm, looking straight at him and through her hard breathing she said, simply:

"Then show me."

Her eyes was hopeful, looking down at the person she couldn't stop loving even if she tried, and for a second her heart felt heavy, because she imagined this a million times, and she tried just as many times but there was always something preventing anything from happening between her and Sasuke. But then he slowly got up, freeing her from his grip. He propped himself on the wall and pulled her up with him. He was unsure as to what exactly he was doing, but he just pulled her closer, then, after taking a calming breath, he took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers.

He was unbelievably gentle, she thought, and he seemed more unsure than he ever had. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his as Sasuke deepened the kiss. There was no cold or storm, no rough, tiny bed or home they had to go back to. There was Sasuke, with Sakura's face in his hands, and their lips moving together.

When Sasuke finally pulled away, he searched her expression for something, he wasn't sure what. She looked flustered, content and maybe a bit embarrassed, and the smile that broke free and overtook her face did strange things to Sasuke's insides.

Sakura touched her forehead to Sasuke's, closing her eyes. She was trying to focus on breathing evenly, but the thought that something she had wanted for so long was happening, and it was Sasuke himself who was initiating the act filled her with so many emotions she could hardly contain herself.

They laid back down, this time Sakura's head being on Sasuke's chest, one arm around him and both his arms around her. He stayed up a lot longer than she did. He could hear her breathing slowing down until it became even and he knew she was asleep. He thought about Konoha, and how unsure he was as to what he was going to do with his life. People didn't trust him, he had done and tried to do terrible things and he had already lost so many things it was hard to think of something that could be there for him permanently. Then he tightened his grip on Sakura, just a bit, and he figured that, if he was going to make a new list of things that were important, he'd put her first, along with the bonds he has made in the village that would never break not due to some miracle, although it sure seemed like it to Sasuke, but because of these people who love him unconditionally. If there was anything important to Sasuke now, it was showing them, especially Sakura, that he loved them.


End file.
